Well, in short I love meat. I don't try to justify it by being an omnivore, or protein/iron intake, nor do I need some ethical vegan educating me on how it's bad for environment and how poor old Bessy #246 suffers. I tried vegetarian dishes, and I think they're delicious, but ultimately I enjoy variety. Also, being raised in a coastal city I'd find it very difficult to give up seafood.

Like others have stated, we are omnivores by nature. Meat has a huge role on why we became humans in the first place.

Besides the evolutionary and sociocultural reasons, meat is nourishing and delicious. It clicks that ancient button deep inside our reptilian brain which means because of this mouthful, you'll be able to live another day.

Meat has amazing texture and depth. You can make amazing dishes using it. So, i choose not to suppress my inner carnivore, and I eat meat, in small, very rare cuts, almost every day.

In a meal, balance is everything. And, for a perfect meal, meat IS required. You can substitute it, surely, but not with the same nutritional qualities. Lean cuts of meat are very healthy, despite what some rabid groups say.

Let me be clear, I have no problem with the idea of humans eating meat, we're omnivorous after all. What bothers me, is the way certain places treat the animals before and during the slaughter.

You put me and a buddy alone in the wild and my buddy catches a fish for dinner? I'll eat it. I'll be thankful for the meal, and I'll respect the fact that effort went into catching the fish.

But you offer me some KFC, or some other factory farm grown meat and I will lose it. There is no justification for treating life like we do. For the most part it means I'm a vegetarian, simply because I don't enjoy meat enough to put the effort into looking for good honest places to buy from. But yes, you buy chicken from a free roaming organic farm, and I'll have no problem with that. Better yet I'll respect you.

Give it about 10-20 years and the whole argument will be moot, as we will be able to clone or grow our meat. They already can create veins to graft heart patients. By simple extention to the science, we will soon get all the protein we need without having to kill animals.

Farm animals will then turn to wildlife, will multiply and overpopulate and damage the already fragile ecosystems and we soon will have a brand new problem that will involve killing the surplus of animals before they mess up the forest.

Within only a few years some species will go completely extinct, such as the common chicken, who, let's face it, is way too stupid and domesticated to have any means of defences against dedicated hunters like wolves and bears. Dangerous predators, on the other hand, will thrive and multiply, becoming a real danger to humans.

Funny how I know no vegetarian whose family member got half his face chewed off by a bear.

It's natural to eat meat and vegetables. I don't see a reason why not to eat. And your poll sucks hard. I don't eat bacon, I don't agree with you, nor am I a vegetarian. What should I pick? Next time try to create a normal poll. Don't try to be funny with the choices. I like real meat, not some disgusting fat that looks like meat.

And no, I don't eat just meat. I eat balanced. Some meat, some vegetables. I like to be health even tho I'm a gamer.

I can respect anyone who eats meat (hell, it would be annoying if I had to not respect them all, there's so many of them!) but it does bug me whenever anyone says "We are omnivores" or "It's natural" or "We're at the top of the food chain." That's shitty logic, because we do things that are completely against nature everday, and we aren't at the top of the food chain anyway, that would be bears or something.

And if you say "because it tastes nice" I sort of get annoyed, but that's sound logic, so, knock yourself out I guess.

The other thing that annoys me (yeah a lot of things annoy about this topic, lol) is when people who eat meat take the piss out of vegetarians, and there's not much I can say back, it's like a calling a white person cracker.

Because bacon. I am a freak for meant actually. Get a breakfast roll everyday (Sausage, bacon, white & black pudding, hash browns and mushrooms in a baguette for all of you non-Irish or UK escapists). Meats just damned tasty. And I can. Simple as that really.

I eat meat as it tastes nice. I know the animal dies. I know that some places dont treat animals as well as they should. Either way.....meat tastes nice. Bacon....mmmmm.

What i hate is that vegi eaters should just shut the fuck up. You chose to eat veg, thats your choice, my choice is to enjoy meat. I accept your choice to be vegetarian and allow you that but you will continually comment about me eating meat.

Also why is it that if a vegetarian eats at your house you feel the need to feed them something vegetarian and good even though you are a meat eater. But a vegetarian will never cook a meat dish when a meat eater visits their house? Double standards I think.

Also why is it that if a vegetarian eats at your house you feel the need to feed them something vegetarian and good even though you are a meat eater. But a vegetarian will never cook a meat dish when a meat eater visits their house? Double standards I think.

Well, you don't eat JUST meat, do you? What vegetarians eat are a part of your diet.

Tilted_Logic:Animal cruelty. You put me and a buddy alone in the wild and my buddy catches a fish for dinner? I'll eat it. I'll be thankful for the meal, and I'll respect the fact that effort went into catching the fish.

I know people that will eat fish and not meat. For me, fish and sea food have it worse. Fish suffocate on a boat, unless you think its best to drown cows and pigs for food? Some sea food is boiled alive. How is that humane?

Me? I eat it all. Regardless, i realise some animals suffer but i dont care. At all. Some random animal. Also science show plants feel pain so what does that say about veg?

Well, you don't eat JUST meat, do you? What vegetarians eat are a part of your diet.

"part of" being the word. I feed my vegitarian friends something nice for them. An not just say "well here is the extras after i take the steak out". I eat fruit and veg and meat. A balanced diet. Its just one of them arguments, not all animal places treat animals badly. Sometimes its the workers that treat the animals badly, nothing to do with that companies standards. Its like saying you will never wear clothes because some clothes are made in third world sweat shops by child workers. Not all places are the same. But choice is choice, and i like to eat the best of both. Not saying it wouldnt kill me to eat a non meat meal....i have done so many times. Just stating the inequality of it all.

Just for the record, cute little bunnies are delicious. I likes me some hasenpfeffer.

I eat meat because it at least has the decency to not cause an allergic reaction in me or otherwise make me sick, unlike a lot of other things I can't eat (yay multiple dietary restrictions), and it's also quite a pain in the ass to get an equivalent amount of protein from other sources. Yeah, yeah, nuts and beans and all that, but while the protein density of them is high for plants, it's still waaaay lower than just eating an animal. If someone figures out how to grow it more efficiently in a vat or something without involving animals and wasting energy on all the intermediate steps, I'm all for that, but in the meantime this is what I do, along with a healthy amount of whatever fruits and vegetables and whatever other crap my body will tolerate.

Also why is it that if a vegetarian eats at your house you feel the need to feed them something vegetarian and good even though you are a meat eater. But a vegetarian will never cook a meat dish when a meat eater visits their house? Double standards I think.

You think? It looks more like you didn't think the obvious through. Vegetarians will not have meat and thus cannot create said dishes. Also they may be morally against it. Meat eaters will presumably have things besides meat to feed guests. Also I have yet to find one who is morally against eating something besides meat so preparing a dish without it shouldn't be a problem. This is a pretty basic thought process. It shouldn't be hard.

You would like to keep those animals alive then I'm guessing? Have you ever thought that, by not eating meat, you're supporting the eventual extinction of those same animals?

Think about it. What if no one ate meat? There would be no reason to keep farms filled with cows, pigs, chickens... No reason to raise them, to breed them, or anything. Which means the animals that are currently on the farms would grow old and die without being bred. And then they would be extinct. Sure, maybe cows could be used for their milk, but by your philosophy we might as well just use soy milk, so we don't need them for that.

If the entire world suddenly became vegetarians, or vegans, the animal populations of farms would likely die out with 50 years. Sure, you may have the rare bovine in a zoo or something, but really, how boring would that be? They wouldn't last long at zoos, which means the only places that might have one or two would be rebellious meat-eating families in the country or other uncivilized portions of the world.

That is why I eat meat. Because I support the survival of the species of animals I'm eating. And it tastes damned good. It's also why I'm morally opposed to vegetarians and vegans.

I've always enjoyed the taste of meat, which is why I ate it as a child, and why I eat it now.

But, having said that... I do think that eating meat is one of those things that will become less and less fashionable over time, until eventually civilized countries will stop it altogether. It's probably for the best.

You would like to keep those animals alive then I'm guessing? Have you ever thought that, by not eating meat, you're supporting the eventual extinction of those same animals?

Think about it. What if no one ate meat? There would be no reason to keep farms filled with cows, pigs, chickens... No reason to raise them, to breed them, or anything. Which means the animals that are currently on the farms would grow old and die without being bred. And then they would be extinct. Sure, maybe cows could be used for their milk, but by your philosophy we might as well just use soy milk, so we don't need them for that.

If the entire world suddenly became vegetarians, or vegans, the animal populations of farms would likely die out with 50 years. Sure, you may have the rare bovine in a zoo or something, but really, how boring would that be? They wouldn't last long at zoos, which means the only places that might have one or two would be rebellious meat-eating families in the country or other uncivilized portions of the world.

That is why I eat meat. Because I support the survival of the species of animals I'm eating. And it tastes damned good. It's also why I'm morally opposed to vegetarians and vegans.

You know, there are animals in the woods, like bears. We don't need to farm bears for eating to keep them alive. They survive on their own. If one species, like pigs, can't survive in the wilds, I don't think it deserves to survive.

Soods:They survive on their own. If one species, like pigs, can't survive in the wilds, I don't think it deserves to survive.

That seems like a bit of a leap to me. There are plenty of creatures that would have (and do have) difficulty surviving in the wild, but that doesn't necessarily mean they don't deserve to live and propagate. There are plenty of people that couldn't survive in the wild, either.

There are a number of species which are hanging on by a thread and are largely kept alive by conservation efforts. The giant panda is a good example. Do you think we should simply allow it to die out?